Is stress sexy?

Men with low stress levels are significantly more attractive to women than highly stressed rivals, according to new research conducted at the University of Abertay Dundee.

Dr Fhionna Moore, a Psychology Lecturer at Abertay University, led a research team investigating links between hormones and attractiveness. By analysing hormone levels in young men and developing ‘composite’ images of typical faces, they could judge how attractive a group of women found facial cues to different hormone levels.

And:

The greatest attractiveness was found for low cortisol levels, particularly in the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. This gives strength to the ‘good genes’ analysis – where calmer responses to hazardous situations give an evolutionary advantage – which has been previously shown by other researchers working with zebra finches.